Monday - Friday, 6-9 a.m.

Host Tom Temin brings you the latest news affecting the federal community each weekday morning, featuring interviews with top government executives and contractors. Listen live from 6 to 9 a.m. or download archived interviews below.

President Barack Obama has petitioned Congress for new authority to conduct military force against Islamic State militants. He's asking for a three-year authorization to fight them, or their successors, without regard for international borders. Nora Bensahel, a national defense expert and distinguished scholar-in-residence at American University, joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive to further analyze the President's request.

President Barack Obama held the first White House Cybersecurity Summit and pushed for greater sharing of information with an Executive Order. And, the Federal Aviation Administration published rules for the use of small drones over the weekend. Jonathan Aberman is chairman of the venture capital firm Amplifier Ventures and founder of TandemNSI, a non-profit. He joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive to further discuss the news.

Dealings between contractors and the government can get difficult and contentious. Yet it's important to keep discussions from getting overly nasty or personal. It may be tempting at times, but it will cost you in the long run. That's according to Tim Sullivan, a partner at the law firm Thompson Coburn and author of the blog, "A Government Contractor's 10 Commandments." On the Federal Drive with Tom Temin, he tackled the seventh commandment: Thou shall avoid hostilities. Even though there are processes for protests, disputes and appeals, a contractor should exercise caution and restraint when pursuing these avenues.

The Federal Headlines is a daily compilation of the stories you hear discussed on Federal News Radio each day. It is designed to give FederalNewsRadio.com readers more information about the stories heard on the radio. In today's news, the Army considers easing its policy on transgender soldiers, federal offices in the Washington, D.C. area are closed today and Health and Human Services extends the open enrollment for health care insurance until Feb. 22.

The White House has released its 2015 National Security Strategy. It highlights America's recovery from the financial crisis and the importance of leading in a challenged world. It also focuses on how the Defense Department will execute the rebalance to Asia and the Middle East. Jacob Stokes, a fellow at the Center for a New American Security, joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive to offer more analysis, as well as explain what separates this version from 2010's.

Political leaders from both the White House and Congress are offering up ways to improve the Senior Executive Service. There's the mundane — the White House is launching a candidate development program. And the punitive — legislation that would make it easier to fire SES members when things go wrong. Now in our special report, "Fixing the SES," we ask: Is it actually broken? Jeri Buchholz is an SES member and chief human capital officer at NASA. On the Federal Drive with Tom Temin, she told Federal News Radio's Emily Kopp that the SES has its faults but is essential to the government.

The White House is taking a bigger interest in the nuts and bolts of government management these days. One piece of evidence: The General Services Administration's Federal Acquisition Service has visited the Oval Office itself twice over the past few weeks. In his biweekly feature, "Inside the Reporter's Notebook," Executive Editor Jason Miller writes about what's going on. He joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive to discuss.

Does the Senior Executive Service need to be fixed? And if so, how? Federal News Radio is currently examining these questions in a four-part special report, "Fixing the SES." Web Manager Julia Ziegler joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive to relay some of your thoughts on it.

The Federal Headlines is a daily compilation of the stories you hear discussed on Federal News Radio each day. It is designed to give FederalNewsRadio.com readers more information about the stories heard on the radio. In today's news, House Speaker John Boehner raises the possibility of a Homeland Security Department shutdown, a former soldier pleads guilty to conspiring to kill a federal agent and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration launches a satellite that will warn when solar storms are heading to Earth.

The USS Kauffman is now the last of its breed. The 453-foot Navy ship is on a six-month deployment that marks the final mission for any Navy frigate. All the rest have been decommissioned. Kauffmann will follow suit when it returns from Central America in September. Rear Adm. Peter Fanta, the Navy's director of Surface Warfare, joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive to explain the rationale behind the decommissioning, the policy behind it and how the Navy intends to replace the frigates.

Homeland Security officials and their many constituencies are wondering how Congress will resolve the department's budget tug of war. Secretary Jeh Johnson has testified a funding lapse would result in 30,000 furloughs. Another fallout would be a slowdown in cybersecurity spending. Matt Hummer, director of analytics at the data firm Govini, joined the Federal Drive with Tom Temin in studio with more on that possibility.

The Federal Headlines is a daily compilation of the stories you hear discussed on Federal News Radio each day. It is designed to give FederalNewsRadio.com readers more information about the stories heard on the radio. In today's news, President Obama stars in the latest viral Buzzfeed video, a panel investigating the Secret Service says agents are trained at "unacceptable" levels and a new White House executive order aims to ease cybersecurity threat information sharing among companies and the federal government.

The federal government has agreed to release one of the largest indexes of government data in the world. The Office of Management and Budget will fulfill a Freedom of Information Act request filed last December by the Sunlight Foundation. Sean Vitka, a federal policy manager at the Sunlight Foundation, joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive to explain what that data will cover.

The Commerce Department is one of five agencies the White House chose to pilot an Idea Lab in fiscal 2016. As part of the President's budget request, Commerce would get a few million dollars to create this new office. Bruce Andrews is the deputy secretary of Commerce. On the Federal Drive with Tom Temin, he told executive editor Jason Miller what his department hopes to accomplish with the lab.

When the U.S. military deployed to West Africa to support the fight against Ebola, it needed plenty of trained medical and logistics personnel. But they also needed good maps -- something the country didn't have last October. It does now, thanks to the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, and NGA's new director says the Ebola response is the start of what he says will be "unprecedented transparency" for his agency. More from Federal News Radio DoD Reporter Jared Serbu.

The Veterans Affairs Department has hundreds of land-use agreements worth tens of millions of dollars. It needs help in managing them. A new study by the Government Accountability Office found several agreements were recorded multiple times, and some revenue hadn't even been reported. Steve Lord, the managing director of Forensic Audits and Investigative Service at GAO, joined the Federal Drive with Tom Temin to explain more about how land-use agreements work and what GAO found.

Nearly 1,000 military service members whose homes were wrongly foreclosed on will be receiving over $123 million. That's thanks to a new Justice Department settlement with five of the nation's largest mortgage companies. Justice said they violated the Service Members Civil Relief Act in foreclosing the homes. Larry Youngner, a partner at the law firm Tully Rinckey, joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive to further analyze the settlement.

When if comes to cybersecurity, who's your daddy? In your case, it's the White House. Federal agencies should expect a cybersecurity revival of sorts from the Office of Management and Budget this year. OMB is reasserting its cyber oversight role with a new group of experts. Grant Schneider is a federal cybersecurity advisor at OMB. On the Federal Drive with Tom Temin, he told executive editor Jason Miller about what agencies should expect in the coming months.

The Federal Headlines is a daily compilation of the stories you hear discussed on Federal News Radio each day. It is designed to give FederalNewsRadio.com readers more information about the stories heard on the radio. In today's news, A former Postal Service contracting officer and a mail delivery contractor are charged in a bribery scheme, a new bill would prevent federal employees from watching pornography on government-issued devices, and what's former Secret Service official A.T. Smith doing now? It's a mystery.

The White House announces a new cyber threat intelligence center to better understand and coordinate the response to the threats the nation faces. The approach the administration is taking is not new. In fact, it's modeled after the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC). Federal News Radio's executive editor Jason Miller joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive with more about the new center and why many experts say this approach seems like the right one.